Mr. Filner introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial
Services, and in addition to the Committee on
House Administration, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned

A BILL

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II
members of the Civil Air Patrol.

1.

Findings

Congress makes the following
findings:

(1)

The volunteer members of the Civil Air
Patrol (hereafter in this Act referred to as the CAP) during
World War II, civilian men and women ranging in age from 19 to 81, provided
extraordinary public and combat services during a critical time of need for the
Nation.

(2)

During the war, CAP members used their own
aircraft to perform a myriad of essential tasks for the military and the Nation
within the United States, including attacks on enemy submarines off the
Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States.

(3)

This extraordinary service set the stage
for the post-war CAP to become a valuable nonprofit, public service
organization chartered by Congress and the Auxiliary of the United States Air
Force that provides essential emergency, operational, and public services to
communities, States, the Federal Government, and the military.

(4)

The CAP was established, initially as a
part of the Office of Civil Defense, by air-minded citizens one week before the
surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 1, 1941, out of the
desire of civil airmen of the country to be mobilized with their equipment in
the common defense of the Nation.

(5)

Within days of the start of the war, the
German Navy started a massive submarine offensive, known as Operation Drumbeat,
off the east coast of the United States against oil tankers and other critical
shipping that threatened the overall war effort.

(6)

Neither the Navy nor the Army had enough
aircraft, ships, or other resources to adequately patrol and protect the
shipping along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, and
many ships were torpedoed within sight of civilians on shore, including 52
tankers sunk between January and March 1942.

(7)

At that time General George Marshall
remarked that [t]he losses by submarines off our Atlantic seaboard and
in the Caribbean now threaten our entire war effort.

(8)

From the beginning CAP leaders urged the
military to use its services to patrol coastal waters but met with great
resistance because of the nonmilitary training and status of CAP pilots.

(9)

Finally, in response to the ever-increasing
submarine attacks, the Tanker Committee of the Petroleum Industry War Council
urged the Navy Department and the War Department to consider the use of the CAP
to help patrol the sea lanes off the coasts of the United States.

(10)

While the Navy initially rejected this
suggestion, the Army decided it had merit, and the Civil Air Patrol Coastal
Patrol began in March 1942.

(11)

Oil companies and other organizations
provided funds to help pay for some CAP operations, including vitally needed
shore radios that were used to monitor patrol missions.

(12)

By late March 1942, the Navy also began to
use the services of the CAP.

(13)

Starting with three bases located in
Delaware, Florida, and New Jersey, CAP aircrews immediately started to spot
enemy submarines as well as lifeboats, bodies, and wreckage.

(14)

Within 15 minutes of the first Coast Patrol
flight, the pilot had sighted a torpedoed tanker and was coordinating rescue
operations.

(15)

Eventually 21 bases, ranging from Bar
Harbor, Maine, to Brownsville, Texas, were set up for the CAP to patrol the
Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, with 40,000 volunteers
participating.

(16)

The CAP used a wide range of civilian-owned
aircraft, mainly light-weight, single engine aircraft—manufactured by Cessna,
Beech, Waco, Fairchild, Stinson, Piper, Taylorcraft, and Sikorsky, among
others—as well as some twin engine aircraft such as the Grumman Widgeon.

(17)

These aircraft were painted in their
civilian prewar colors (red, yellow, blue, etc.) and carried special markings
(a blue circle with a white triangle) to identify them as CAP aircraft.

(18)

Patrols were conducted up to 100 miles off
shore, generally with 2 aircraft flying together, in aircraft often equipped
with only a compass for navigation and a single radio for communication.

(19)

Due to the critical nature of the
situation, CAP operations were conducted in bad weather as well as good, often
when the military was unable to fly, and in all seasons (including the winter)
when ditching an aircraft in cold water would likely mean certain death to the
aircrew.

(20)

Personal emergency equipment was often
lacking, particularly during early patrols where inner tubes and kapok duck
hunter vests were carried as flotation devices since ocean worthy wet suits,
life vests, and life rafts were unavailable.

(21)

The initial purpose of the CAP was to spot
submarines, report their position to the military, and force them to dive below
the surface, which limited their operating speed and maneuverability and
reduced their ability to detect and attack shipping.

(22)

It soon became apparent that there were
opportunities for CAP pilots to attack submarines, such as when a Florida CAP
aircrew came across a surfaced submarine that quickly stranded itself on a sand
bar. However, the aircrew could not get any assistance from armed military
aircraft before the submarine freed itself.

(23)

Finally, after a number of these instances,
a decision was made by the military to arm CAP aircraft with 50- and 100-pound
bombs, and to arm some larger twin engine aircraft with 325-pound depth
charges.

(24)

The arming of CAP aircraft dramatically
changed the mission for these civilian aircrews and resulted in more than 57
attacks on enemy submarines.

(25)

While CAP volunteers received $8 a day
flight reimbursement, their patrols were accomplished at a great economic cost
to many of the members of the CAP who—

(A)

used their own aircraft and other equipment
in defense of the Nation;

(B)

paid for much of their own aircraft
maintenance and hangar use; and

(C)

often lived in primitive conditions along
the coast, including old barns and chicken coops converted for sleeping.

(26)

More importantly, the CAP Coastal Patrol
service came at the high cost of 26 fatalities, 7 serious injuries, and 90
aircraft lost.

(27)

At the conclusion of the 18-month Coastal
Patrol, the heroic CAP aircrews would be credited with the following:

(A)

2 submarines destroyed or damaged;

(B)

57 submarines attacked;

(C)

82 bombs dropped against submarines;

(D)

173 radio reports of submarine positions
(with a number of credited assists for kills made by military units);

(E)

17 floating mines reported;

(F)

36 dead bodies reported;

(G)

91 vessels in distress reported;

(H)

363 survivors in distress reported;

(I)

836 irregularities noted;

(J)

1,036 special investigations at sea or
along the coast;

(K)

5,684 convoy missions for the Navy;

(L)

86,685 missions flown;

(M)

244,600 total flight hours logged;
and

(N)

more than 24,000,000 miles flown.

(28)

At least one high-level German Navy Officer
credited the CAP with being the primary reason that submarine attacks were
withdrawn from the Atlantic coast of the United States in 1943 when he said
that [i]t was because of those damned little red and yellow
planes!.

(29)

The CAP was dismissed from coastal missions
with little thanks in August 1943 when the Navy took over the mission
completely and ordered the CAP to stand down.

(30)

While the Coastal Patrol was ongoing, the
CAP was also establishing itself as a vital wartime service to the military,
States, and communities nationwide by performing a wide range of missions
including—

a courier service involving 3 major Air
Force Commands over a 2-year period carrying more than 3,500,000 pounds of
vital cargo and 543 passengers;

(C)

southern border operations flying more than
30,000 hours, with 7,000 reports of unusual sightings including a vehicle (that
was apprehended) with 2 enemy agents attempting to enter the country;

(D)

a week in February 1945 during which CAP
units found seven missing Army and Navy pilots; and

(E)

a State in which the CAP flew 790 hours on
forest fire patrol missions and reported 576 fires to authorities during a
single year.

(32)

On April 29, 1943, the CAP was transferred
to the Army Air Forces, thus beginning its long association with the United
States Air Force.

(33)

Hundreds of CAP-trained women joined
military women’s units including the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP)
program.

(34)

Many members of the Women's Air Force
Service Pilots program joined or rejoined the CAP during the post-war period
because it provided women opportunities to fly and continue to serve the Nation
that were severely lacking elsewhere.

(35)

Due to the exceptional emphasis on safety,
unit discipline, and pilot discipline, and the organization of the CAP, by the
end of the war only 64 members of the CAP had died in service and only 150
aircraft had been lost (including its Coastal Patrol losses from early in the
war).

(36)

It is estimated that more than 200,000
civilians were members of the CAP in wide range of positions and that CAP
aircrews flew a total of approximately 750,000 hours during the war, most of
which was in their personal aircraft and often at real risk to their
lives.

(37)

After the war, at a CAP dinner for
Congress, a quorum of both Houses attended with the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President thanking the CAP for its service.

(38)

While air medals were issued for those
participating in the Coastal Patrol, little other recognition was forthcoming
for those efforts or for the other services the CAP volunteers provided during
the war.

(39)

Despite efforts to end the organization at
the end of the war, the CAP had proved its capabilities and strengthened its
ties with the Air Force and Congress.

(40)

In 1946, Congress chartered the CAP as a
nonprofit, public service organization and in 1948 as the Auxiliary of the
United States Air Force.

(41)

Today the CAP conducts many of the same
missions it performed during World War II, including a vital role in homeland
security.

2.

Congressional Gold Medal

(a)

Award

(1)

Authorized

The President pro tempore of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make appropriate arrangements
for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate
design in honor of the World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol
collectively, in recognition of the military service and exemplary record of
the Civil Air Patrol during World War II.

(2)

Design and striking

For the purposes of the award referred to
in paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Treasury shall strike the gold medal
with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the
Secretary.

(3)

Smithsonian institution

(A)

In general

Following the award of the gold medal
referred to in paragraph (1) in honor of the World War II members of the Civil
Air Patrol, the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where
it shall be displayed as appropriate and made available for research.

(B)

Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that the
Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received under this
paragraph available for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations
associated with the Civil Air Patrol.

(b)

Duplicate medals

Under such regulations as the Secretary may
prescribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold
medal struck under this Act, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the
medals, including labor, materials, dyes, use of machinery, and overhead
expenses.

(c)

National medals

Medals struck pursuant to this Act are
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States
Code.

3.

Authorization of appropriations; proceeds
of sale

(a)

Authorization of
appropriations

There is
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund,
an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medal authorized
under section 2.

(b)

Proceeds of sale

Amounts received from the sale of duplicate
bronze medals under section 2(b) shall be deposited in the United States Mint
Public Enterprise Fund.